This invention relates to providing shared resources.
Users at different workstations may each have access to a set of shared resources. The set of shared resources can include one or more collections of data. Examples of the collections of data include an inventory database including a list of items for sale, the price of each of the items, the amount of each item currently in stock, and other similar information and a customer database including a list of customer accounts and names, addresses, payment information, order numbers, and other similar information associated with each of the accounts.
Each user may log in to a system hosting the set of shared resources and gain the ability to edit all or parts of the set of shared resources. While one user is logged in to the system, other users may be prevented from accessing and/or editing all or part of the set of shared resources until that one user logs out of the system. Alternatively, any number of the users may be able to modify the shared resources in whole or in part at any given time. If a user makes a change to the set of shared resources, the user may not know if he or she is changing the most up-to-date version of the shared resources.